{BAF in Halifax!!}

PHEW! I know people have been waiting to see photos of us, etc. We've been SO busy, I haven't had a lot of free time to put stuff up here, or even download my own pictures etc. Last night was our first FULL dress rehearsal. So everyone was in their uniforms and we had full lighting cues and everything was AMAZING! Here are some pictures...we look HOT out on the floor! I'm in the very back on the far left-hand side. They didn't use the percussionists for the set bands, so Shannon said, "Uh...didn't you practice the clarinet? Why don't you come up on set with the clarinet?" So I grabbed a clarinet and a flip-folder (thank goodness THAT music isn't memorized!) and am now in the set band too...as well as the "Hits of the Blitz" sequence on the floor. MUCH happier about doing that and not just sitting around! Shanny is so smart...probably why we've been friends all these years! I'm on the right hand side of the set for the clarinet stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to get some closer up pics of that soon. Meghann has arrived, she got here at 2:30am Halifax time on June 29th. I'm a happy Momma to have my baby here! We move into the rental house today, so that should be nice! They have air conditioning and a pool! WooHoo!

{4 Days & a Wake-Up 'til Halifax!}

4 more days and I'll be on a plane to Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada! Amazing how fast the time has flown! Meghann flies out in 10 days to meet Vince and Aleks and then drive up to meet Shanny, Derek and I already in Halifax. I can't wait to start posting some pictures, eh?!

{Band of America's Few...Support Your Former Marine Musicians!}

Many of you already know the story...but I'll tell it again!

This summer an opportunity presented itself to a Marine Musician friend of mine. The Marine Corps bands used to participate in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Canada every year. It's a HUGE entertainment extravaganza attended by people from all over the world and includes performers from all over the world. About 10 years back, the government decided to quit funding trips such as this. So the international community has been begging Marine bands for 10 years to come back. Since the government won't fund it, it can't happen, no matter HOW badly the Marines want to participate. A wonderful man, Guthrie Woods, a Canadian came forward and talked to the Marine Musician friend of mine and said, "What if you got together a bunch of your FORMER Marine Musicians, and I paid for uniforms to be made specially for you guys, and I got sponsors to provide instruments that you guys don't have access to?" Matt said, "I think I can DO that!" It was all approved through the Headquarters Marine Corps, and "The Band of America's Few" was born! I will be performing on clarinet this year...and Meghann will get to attend as well for 1 week with me! What an opportunity for us both...she, of course, never got to see her Marine Mommy perform, so this will be the next best thing! An AMAZING group of former Marine Musicians has been assembled and we will "Take Halifax by Storm" in June/July 2010! We are an ongoing group and will continue to support other "missions" that arise...we've already been requested for quite a few "gigs" and invited back for the 2011 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo! The PayPal widget to the right @ the top of the blog page is to encourage you to donate to our non-profit organization...and help foster the goodwill that Marine Musicians have always provided to the local and international communities! Every dollar helps...so give a dollar, give 10...whatever you can, it'll be MUCH appreciated! The widget only shows what's been donated to "The Band of America's Few" through the widget...we've had our fundraising going for about 3 weeks now and have gotten a lot of donations, this is just one more way to get our name/story out there!

Our Logo in Brass form...for our buttons and belts

Our embroidered Logo on the windbreaker

Here is the promotional video from the Tattoo website...how cool is THIS?!? Did you see the Marines?

{Meghann's 15th Birthday Party @ Grandma & Papa's House!!}

We got VERY lucky this year on Meghann's 15th birthday...it fell on a Saturday so that we could spend the whole day with Grandma & Papa in Hemet! Grandma planned out a whole day of fun for her party! We played games, ate WONDERFUL food, and enjoyed the BEST company! Meghann loves that her Grandma & Papa are so thoughtful and think of her all the time! We invited David to come and enjoy the day with us as well so that Grandma & Papa could meet him, since she's met both of his Grandmas...had to even up the playing field and subject David to the "once over"! Hee, hee! Of course he passed with flying colors...Grandma & Papa can see how happy he makes their granddaughter! Thanks again, Mom & Dad for your wonderfulness and for always making home such a happy place to be! We love you! ♥

{Decorations on the table}

{David and Meghann sitting on the couch}{Meghann and David swimming}

{Meghann peeking @ me...}

{Papa, David & Mike on the patio for lunch}

{David trying his best to "mail the lost invitations"! Sorry David...I beat you!}

{Megs making an effort to "deliver the lost invitations"! Sorry Megs...I beat you too!}

{Lani just laid there while all the envelopes were flying towards her...she didn't care!}

{David and Meghann getting ready to open the presents}

{AWESOME Grandma & Papa bought Megs an iTouch! They also bought her some wonderful watercolor pencils and paper for her to practice her art. She didn't look so good in that picture, so she can thank me for not posting it!}

{Nice green cover for your iTouch Megs...oh, wait, why don't you just hand that over to Daddy since you've been using HIS since Christmas and have all YOUR crap on it! Hee, hee!}

{Squinty Lani in the sunshine of Hemet}

{WTG Papa...distracting Mike with your antics so that NEITHER of you are looking @ the camera!
What AM I gonna do with you?!?!?}

{She huffs...she puffs...she gets all 15 candles blown out! PHEW! Yummy FunFetti cake...thanks Grandma, it was TASTY!}

{On the patio for lunch...couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather!}

Another year down...{SIGH!}...where HAS the time gone?? Our little girl is so grown up now...next year she'll be able to DRIVE! {YIKES!} We ♥ you baby girl and are so glad that you're ours!
♥,
Dad & Mom

{♥Meghann's 15th Birthday Hamster!♥}

{Meghann looking at her new pet!}

{Meghann lovin' her new pet!}

{Meghann built the habitat all by herself!}

{Cammie in her run-around ball}{Cammie going into her little hidey-castle}

{Cammie sitting in her food dish washing her face after a snack}{Cammie sitting in her food dish washing her face after a snack}

{Cammie's habitat}{Cammie's habitat}

{Cammie sitting on her slide}

{Cammie posing for a photo in her slide}

Meghann decided that she would like a hamster for a birthday gift this year! Since she just got a new dresser, we figured she could keep the habitat up there and be totally responsible for little Cammie. We've had a name change already...Megs decided she didn't really look like Rhino, so she was calling her "Hammie" all the time and Mike said she looked like "Caramel", so we combined the 2 and she's CAMMIE now! She's a super cute little hamster and has already brought a lot of joy to Meghann's day! I'm sure she'll keep doing that for many more days to come! Lani didn't seem to bothered by her running around the house in her little ball, but of course that could change! Lani is pretty easy-going, so we know it'll be fine. Especially since "that thing" (Lani's opinion of her, I'm sure!) will be in Meghann's room most of the time! Welcome to the Walker family little Cammie! ♥

{Meghann's 15th Birthday Celebration....Continued!}

We're SOOOO excited for Megs' birthday next Saturday! Our young lady will be 15 years old...{SIGH!} She wanted to spend her birthday with "The Boy". Last Saturday we went to dinner with his family (parents, Grandmas, Aunts/Uncles) so we thought it would be fun for HIM to meet some more of OUR family! So we'll be heading out to Hemet so "The Boy" can meet Megs' Grandma and Papa! It should be a fun day filled with playing games, good food, and a nice family time! Pictures will be posted...

Thanks for your wonderful hospitality Mom & Dad! :-D

{Today's the Day!!}

Meghann is celebrating her 15th birthday 15 days early! We're taking her and her friends to go see Alice in Wonderland in IMAX 3D today...OPENING DAY! Looks like an absolutely perfect job by Tim Burton! What a fun way to spend an afternoon! Happy early 15th birthday party, Meggie! We ♥ you!

{Annual Puerto Rican Christmas Play}

On Christmas Eve, we usually go and party with our "other" family! The Hernandez clan is a VERY large, rowdy bunch of WONDERFUL Puerto Ricans! And even though the Walkers are white as all get out...they have made us honorary "cousins" and we are invited to all family functions! This year...Mike was working and I was tired, so Meghann went without us. She had a BLAST! This year, she was Mary in the Christmas play. She's been an angel before. But as Mary, she got to hold "the CUTEST BABY, Mom!", and had a lot of fun! Here are some pictures!

{Playdate @ the Walker House}

Well, yesterday was another day of "no school" since it was the end of the semester and they had finals this week. We invited David over to the house so he and Megs could "hang out". But FIRST..."the boy" had NEVER been to Del Taco! What? {SHOCK!}

-Was he raised on the East Coast? No...right here in So Cal.
-Do they NEVER go out to eat? No...they do.
-Do they live under a ROCK? No...a nice house in Anaheim.

Weird...so we HAD to rectify the situation! We picked him up @ 11am and took him out to lunch @.....DEL TACO! He has now been inducted into the Del Taco world of wonderful crinkle-cut french fries! He LOVES 'em! And he enjoyed his chicken soft tacos as well. PHEW! I feel MUCH better now that he's had Del Taco! I used to LOVE "Taco Tuesday" when I was a kid! :-D

The kids had a nice time; playing video games, taking Lani for a walk, hanging out watching TV...a nice time to spend with each other. Awwwww....1st ♥!

{Meghann's Freshman Picture}

Well...after a LONG time of waiting for the disk to arrive, I decided that maybe the P.O. didn't forward it. And sure enough, I called the photography studio and they had mailed it to the Westminster house. So I gave them the new address and I just got the disk today! WooHoo! I like the idea of just buying the disk for $25 because you can edit the pictures and then just print out whatever you like! HOW convenient is that? So I did a bunch of edits and will post them all here now!

{Original}

{Edges Burned}

{Black & White Beauty}

{Heartland}

{Sepia}

{Vintage}

Ahhhh...our beautiful young lady! Wow how time does fly...I STILL can't believe she's a FRESHMAN in High School!